I met with a few more people to mentor me. Many of them had very interesting things to give insight into. Walking long distances, where to set a camp, weeds that are actually herbs or spices for meat. I finished the day talking to a merchant about possible monsters to target for money. Everyone headed to a carriage and left, except us five, the guards, the priests, and the eldest prince. The sun was beginning to dip under the horizon, so they wouldn’t be able to leave for the day due to it being unsafe.

“We wish you luck on your journey. Glory or death”.

The prince said his foreboding statement with a smile. Then the guards made their way to escort us out of the safety of the walls we spent the entire day within.

Terror filled the saintess’s eyes.

“Please reconsider! There are goblins and other monsters out there! We don’t have any camping equipment and I don’t even know if I can trust everyone with my life!”

“Well”, the prince began, “I guess deciding who keeps the first watch would be a good place to start”.

We were escorted out, and then they closed the large wooden doors in front of us. The monk made her way to the saintess, wrapping the girl in a hug. The prince was glaring at the door when he turned to the rest of us.

“I’ll take the first watch with someone else, another pair can take the second watch.”

He pointed at a forest that was a few minutes from the fortress. It looked a lot more inviting during the day when we first passed it. Now each tree cast long shadows, the branches looking like fingers ready to grab anyone who got close. The brush was low enough that nothing larger than a fox could hide in them, but the multitude of older trees provided plenty of cover.

“There are only goblins in this forest, so we can rest easy knowing whoever is on watch won’t get killed before they can wake up the saintess. Let’s get a move on before the sun finishes setting. I want to at least have a campfire set up before we rely on one for light.

The short walk over was quiet. Likely because none of us could think of anything to say. A few broken branches piled up and the prince made us a campfire. The problem was that we had nothing to start camping with.

“The monastery teaches us to live in harmony with nature, so maybe we can find a way to get comfortable sleeping on uneven dirt and roots?”

“Screw what the temple wants me to do with what they gave me, I’m trading something for a tent”

“This is beneath me as a prince, but I suppose this is our first trial as heroes.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about someone going at our throat as we sleep.”

I looked at the others, hearing very little in terms of planning to be an adventurer from the rest of them. I then added myself to that category a moment later.

“I will help you guys as the first watch.” I looked over at the sun, only to find it fully below the horizon. Thousands of stars lighting the sky. The saintess looked at it with a complicated look on her face.

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“So the moon is reddish huh? I don’t feel very well right now. I’m going to sleep.”

The thief and monk soon followed, though I hope I don’t need to think of him as a thief for much longer.

The prince and I sat with our backs to the fire. I didn’t know how to start a conversation or what to say. We sat there for probably an hour. He started the conversation eventually.

“So when did you realize you were expendable?”

“What?”

“Death or glory. They mentioned in the fortress about whether we were recommended for the main team or as a replacement. They had another thing they mentioned though. They didn’t recommend the people they brought if the person wasn’t expendable. They just brought their plus one hoping the artifacts brought over would give them an edge moving forward.” I turned to look at him and he was looking at the sky, a sorrowful expression on his face. He might not have shown it on his face, but he just implied his own brother practically walked him to the executioner’s block and flipped a coin, now he’s waiting to see how the coin lands. I could see how that would mess with a person. I turned back to keep watch.

“Expendable? Probably when the executioner was showcasing someone who was scheduled to die. Or when another asked for our resident thief to die before said prisoner.”

A hearty laugh rang out from behind me. “I wish I was as brash as you. I realized I was an extra years ago. I learned magic to defend myself because I was terrified of death.”

I felt a searing pain in my back. Something pricked me next to my heart, and my voice was caught in my throat.

“How about you.” The prince was still unaware I was in pain. I turned towards him and tried to speak, but my voice couldn’t come out. I tried to stand, but my legs couldn’t get any strength. I instantly collapsed. The prince turned to look at me. Fear gripped him for a split second before he shouted.

“Ambush! Louis needs healing! Enemy is unknown! Get up NOW!”

Logan was on his feet before the prince was done yelling. He put his back to a tree and drew his shortsword. Faith shot up like an arrow whipping her head side to side, trying to figure out where we got shot from. The saintess was still mostly lying down trying to figure out what happened.

“Saintess, get up NOW! He’s dying! Heal him! If you want to lead then start being productive.” The prince was shouting still, obviously uncaring about how much attention that attracted as the campfire already marked our position.

My vision was getting hazy. Obviously, an arrow was in my back, but I couldn’t feel it. In fact, I couldn’t feel much of anything. I struggled to keep conscious, dragging myself to the saintess with my arms. She looked horrified. I couldn’t care less about how bad I looked. Every second I wasn’t healed was a second closer to death.

Logan was shouting something. Noises got fuzzy. He was pointing at something and looking at someone else. The prince grabbed a fist-sized ball of fire from the campfire and shot it toward some trees. As it exploded into embers against a tree, something was reflecting the light of the embers over there. As my eyes drooped closed, I forced them open again. The saintess was kneeling over me. Tears filled her eyes. She was saying something, but I couldn’t tell what.

A sharp pain erupts from my back. Momentarily I am fully awakened, but then I am left tired again. My senses begin to come back to me from that half-dead state.

“Please don’t die. I didn’t ask to come here. I want to go home. I don’t want to watch people die.” The saintess was mumbling something to herself.

The Prince was shooting out fireballs seemingly at random. A forest fire was likely to begin at this rate, but it also prevented the attacker from hiding as easily. The thief was nowhere to be seen, but Faith was watching behind the prince. I saw the attacker fully when they stepped out from behind a tree, backlit by multiple bushfires. It was an adult in all black with a crossbow. They were aiming too low to hit the vitals of anyone not on the ground.

The saintess didn’t seem like she would be able to think clearly enough if she got shot, so I made a quick decision. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to my side. I turned as well to block any shot from hitting her without going through me first.

“She has a crossbow, wait until she shoots.” The prince was giving commands again.

From there I felt a sharp pain in my neck, similar to the one I had in my back. I completely blacked out.